Universal roller bracket assembly for drawers

ABSTRACT

The assembly includes drawer guiding and supporting rollers journaled on a plate which may be turned edge-over-edge and used at either the left or right hand side of a cabinet. Circular screw-receiving holes are formed in one end portion of the plate and include protruding bosses which fit into accurately formed holes in a precision-made cabinet to help anchor the assembly in place. By turning the plate end-for-end, elongated screwreceiving slots formed in the other end portion of the plate may be alined with approximately-located holes in a less expensive cabinet and may be used to enable attachment of the assembly to such a cabinet.

United States Patent 91 Anderson et a1.

UNIVERSAL ROLLER BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR DRAWERS Inventors: Lloyd L. Anderson; Richard L. Bildahl, both of Rockford, Ill.

Assignee: Amerock Corporation, Rockford, 111.

Filed: July 6, 1971 Appl. No.: 159,727

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Rosenberg ..85/4l ..3 12/348 ..308/3.8 Stein ..308/3.8

[4 1 Feb. 13, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 4/1914 Germany ..312/348 12/1963 Canada ..312/349 5 7] ABSTRACT The assembly includes drawer guiding and supporting rollers journaled on a plate which may be turned edgeover-edge and used at either the left or right hand side of a cabinet. Circular screw-receiving holes are formed in one end portion of the plate and include protruding bosses which fit into accurately formed holes in a precision-made cabinet to help anchor the assembly in place. By turning the plate end-for-end, elongated screw-receiving slots formed in the other end portion of the plate may be alined with approximately-located holes in a less expensive cabinet and may be used to enable attachment of the assembly to such a cabinet.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures UNIVERSAL ROLLER BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR DRAWERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a roller bracket assembly for supporting a drawer for in-and-out sliding in an opening in a cabinet. The invention has more particular reference to a universal bracket assembly of the type including a mounting plate which supports one or more rollers and which may be attached at either the left or right hand side of the cabinet opening. A bracket assembly of this general type is shown in Hillson et al. US. Pat. No. 3,112,960.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary aim of the present invention is to provide a new and improved universal roller bracket assembly which not only can be turned edge-over-edge and mounted at either side of the cabinet opening but which also can be turned end-for-end and either anchored very rigidly to precisely manufactured cabinets or adjusted and attached quickly to cabinets manufactured with less precision.

In a more detailed sense, the invention resides in the provision of a novel universal bracket assembly with a mounting plate whose one end is formed with holes having bosses enabling rigid anchoring of the assembly on a precision cabinet and whose other end is formed with elongated slots enabling adjustment of the assembly to a proper position on a non-precision cabinet.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention' will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet equipped with new and improved roller bracket assemblies embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the bracket assemblies.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the bracket assembly shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the assembly attached to a non-precision cabinet.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a roller bracket assembly adapted to be mounted on a cabinet 11 adjacent an opening 13 therein and serving to support a drawer 14 for in-and-out sliding in the opening. One bracket assembly is located at each side of the opening and, in this instance, the assemblies are attached to the inside edges of the opposed upright members 15 of the cabinet face frame.

I-Ierein, each bracket assembly 10 comprises a generally rectangular metal plate 16 disposed ina vertical plane and formed with long fore-and-aft extending side edges 17 and with shorter vertically extending ends 18. Secured to the plate are two horizontally spaced and horizontally extending axles 19 which journal small anti-friction rollers 20 and 21. The latter fit within a channel-like track 23 (FIG. 1) secured to the side of the drawer l4 and thus support the drawer for relatively friction-free sliding within the cabinet 11. A dip or so-called down ramp 24 is formed intermediate the ends of each track so that, when the drawer is pushed inwardly into the cabinet a predetermined distance, the down ramps ride across the rear rollers and enable gravity to close the drawer automatically to a fully shut position. To avoid frictional contact between the track and the mounting plate 16 during sliding of the drawer, the rollers are supported on a narrow fore-and-aft extending rib 25 formed along the inner side of the plate.

The mounting plate 16 of each bracket assembly 10 is attached to the respective face frame member 15 by wood screws 26 (FIG. 4) or other suitable fasteners which are received in a pair of vertically spaced holes 27 formed in the frame member. In fine, precisely made cabinets, the holes 27 are accurately drilled and are located in accurate vertical and horizontal positions in the face frame member. In less expensive cabinets, manufacturing tolerances often result in small variances in the locations of the holes and thus the holes in different frame members may be located in slightly different locations relative to the frame member and to one another.

In accordance with the present invention, the two rollers 20 and 21 are vertically centered on the mounting plate 16 so that the bracket assembly 10 may be used on either the left or right hand frame member 15 by turning the plate edge-over-edge and, in addition, circular screw-receiving holes 30 are formed in one end portion of the plate and include protruding bosses 31 (FIG. 4) which may fit in the accurately located holes 27a of precision cabinets to help securely anchor the bracket assembly. Enlarged screw-receiving slots 33 are formed in the opposite end portion of the plate and, by turning the plate end-for-end, the slots may be positioned alongside the holes 27b (FIG. 5) in non-precision cabinets and may be alined with such holes by edgewise and endwise shifting of the plate. The bracket assembly thus is usable on both the left and right hand sides of the cabinet and, at the same time, may be used to advantage with both precision and non-precision cabinets.

More specifically, the circular openings or holes 30 in the plate 16 are located just inboard of one end of the plate and just outboard of the axis 35 of the adjacent roller 20. The holes 30 are spaced equidistantly in a vertical direction from the axis 35 and their axes or centerlines are located in a common vertical plane extending perpendicular to the plate. The bosses 31 are cylindrical and coaxial with the holes 30 and protrude a short distance inwardly from the inner side of the plate as shown in FIG. 4. The bosses areintegral with the plate and are formed as an incident to stamping the plate.

In precision cabinets, the holes 27a (see FIG. 4) in each frame member are initially somewhat smaller in diameter than the major diameter of the fastening screws 26 and are counterbored as indicated at 37, the counterbores being just very slightly greater in diameter than the outside diameter of the bosses 37. With the holes 27a and counterbores 37 being accurately located, the bosses may be fitted snugly into the counterbores and then the bracket assembly anchored to the frame member by driving the screws through the holes 30 and into the holes 27a. As a result of the bosses, the plate 16 is held in place on the frame member not only by the clamping and frictional force exerted by the screws but also by virtue of the bosses bearing in shear against the material forming the walls of the counterbores. Accordingly, the bracket assembly is anchored very rigidly and is held securely against slipping to a maladjusted position.

Like the holes 30, the openings or slots 33 in the other end portion of the plate 16 are located just inboard of the end of the plate and just outboard of the axis 39 of the roller 21. The centerlines of the two slots 33 are spaced from the axis 39 in vertical and horizontal directions by coordinate distances equal to the vertical and horizontal spacing, respectively, between the holes 30 and the axis 35. The axes 35 and 39 of the rollers 20 and 21 thus lie in a common horizontal plane disposed midway between a horizontal plane containing the centerlines of the upper hole 30 and the upper slot 33 and a vertically spaced horizontal plane containing the centerlines of the lower hole and the lower slot.

The slots 33 are vertically elongated and, in addition, the minor or horizontal dimension of each slot is slightly greater than the diameter of the holes 30 and thus greater than the major diameter of the screws 26. The areas of the outer side of the plate 16 surrounding the slots are fiat and planar as shown in FIG. 5. Accordingly, when the bracket assembly 10 is used with a non-precision cabinet, the plate may be placed flush against the edge of the frame member 15 and then adjusted vertically and horizontally until the enlarged slots 33 expose the holes 27b in the frame member. The screws 26 then may be driven to attach the bracket assembly and, during final tightening of the screws, the bracket assembly may be adjusted to the proper position as permitted by the clearance between the screws and the slots 33 even though the centerlines of the holes 27b do not coincide perfectly with the centerlines of the slots. Although the bracket assembly will not be anchored as securely as when the bosses 33 are fitted into the accurately located and counterbored holes 270, the slots 33 do make possible the use of the assembly with less expensive and less precise cabinets.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention brings to the art a new and improved bracket assembly 10 which may be positioned in one fashion and securely anchored to precision cabinets and which may be turned end-for-end and used with less expensive cabinets. Because the holes 30 and the slots 33 are spaced horizontally from the rollers 20 and 21 by equal distances, the rollers will be positioned at the same fore-and-aft locations relative to the cabinet regardless of which way the assembly is turned and thus the down ramps 24 in the tracks 23 will always be effective to cause closing the drawer 14 at the same point during its inward travel. Because the rollers are centered vertically with respect to the holes 30 and the slots 33, the assembly may be turned edge-over-edge and used on either the left or right side of the cabinet 11 regardless of whether the holes or the slots are located at the front of the cabinet.

We claim as our invention:

l. A universal roller bracket assembly adapted to support a drawer for in-and-out sliding in an opening in a cabinet, said bracket assembly comprising a plate lying in an upright plane and having first and second end portions, rollers journaled on the inner sides of said end portions to rotate about first and second horizontal axes lying in a common and generally horizontal plane, first and second pairs of screw-receiving openings formed through the first and second end portions, respectively, the openings of each pair having horizontally extending centerlines lying in a common upright plane and spaced equidistantly in opposite vertical directions from the respective axis, the areas on the outer side of said plate surrounding one pair of openings being flat and planar, and bosses of circular cross-section coaxial with the other pair of openings and protruding from the outer side of said plate.

2. A roller bracket assembly as defined in claim 1 in which the centerline of each of said openings also is spaced equidistantly in a horizontal direction from the respective axis.

3. A roller bracket assembly as defined in claim 1 in which the openings of said one pair are vertically elongated slots, the openings of the other pair being circular holes each having a diameter slightly smaller than the minor dimension of said slots.

4. A universal roller bracket assembly adapted to support a drawer for in-and-out sliding in an opening in a cabinet having opposed upright side members defining the opening, each of said side members having a pair of vertically spaced holes adapted to receive screws for attaching the bracket assembly to the side member, said assembly comprising a plate lying in an upright plane and having first and second end portions and fore-and-aft extending edges, rollers journaled on the inner sides of said end portions to rotate about first and second horizontal axes lying in a common and generally horizontal plane, first and second pairs of screw-receiving openings formed through the respective end portions of the plate, the coordinate spacing of each of said openings from the respective axis being equal to the corresponding coordinate spacing of the other openings to enable either pair of openings to be alined with said holes by turning said plate end-for-end and to enable said bracket assembly to be mounted on either of said side members by turning said plate edgeover-edge, said first openings being circular and of predetermined diameter, bosses of circular cross-section protruding from the outer side of said plate and coaxial with said first openings to fit into said holes and help anchor said bracket assembly when said first openings aline perfectly with said holes, and said second openings being larger in size than said first openings and capable of being moved into alinement with said holes by edgewise and endwise adjustment of said plate when said first openings aline imperfectly with said holes.

5. A roller bracket assembly as defined in claim 4 in which each of said second openings is a vertically elongated slot having a minor dimension greater than the diameter of said first openings.

6. A universal roller bracket assembly adapted to support a drawer for in-and-out sliding in an opening in a cabinet, said bracket assembly comprising a plate lying in an upright plane and having first and second end portions, first and second pairs of upper and lower cross-section coaxial with said first pair of openings and protruding from one side of said plate, the areas on said one side of said plate surrounding said second pair of openings being flat and planar, and a roller journaled on the other side of said plate to turn about a horizontal axis lying in a generally horizontal plane disposed midway between said first and second horizontal planes. 

1. A universal roller bracket assembly adapted to support a drawer for in-and-out sliding in an opening in a cabinet, said bracket assembly comprising a plate lying in an upright plane and having first and second end portions, rollers journaled on the inner sides of said end portions to rotate about first and second horizontal axes lying in a common and generally horizontal plane, first and second pairs of screw-receiving openings formed through the first and second end portions, respectively, the openings of each pair having horizontally extending centerlines lying in a common upright plane and spaced equidistantly in opposite vertical directions from the respective axis, the areas on the outer side of said plate surrounding one pair of openings being flat and planar, and bosses of circular cross-section coaxial with the other pair of openings and protruding from the outer side of said plate.
 1. A universal roller bracket assembly adapted to support a drawer for in-and-out sliding in an opening in a cabinet, said bracket assembly comprising a plate lying in an upright plane and having first and second end portions, rollers journaled on the inner sides of said end portions to rotate about first and second horizontal axes lying in a common and generally horizontal plane, first and second pairs of screw-receiving openings formed through the first and second end portions, respectively, the openings of each pair having horizontally extending centerlines lying in a common upright plane and spaced equidistantly in opposite vertical directions from the respective axis, the areas on the outer side of said plate surrounding one pair of openings being flat and planar, and bosses of circular cross-section coaxial with the other pair of openings and protruding from the outer side of said plate.
 2. A roller bracket assembly as defined in claim 1 in which the centerline of each of saId openings also is spaced equidistantly in a horizontal direction from the respective axis.
 3. A roller bracket assembly as defined in claim 1 in which the openings of said one pair are vertically elongated slots, the openings of the other pair being circular holes each having a diameter slightly smaller than the minor dimension of said slots.
 4. A universal roller bracket assembly adapted to support a drawer for in-and-out sliding in an opening in a cabinet having opposed upright side members defining the opening, each of said side members having a pair of vertically spaced holes adapted to receive screws for attaching the bracket assembly to the side member, said assembly comprising a plate lying in an upright plane and having first and second end portions and fore-and-aft extending edges, rollers journaled on the inner sides of said end portions to rotate about first and second horizontal axes lying in a common and generally horizontal plane, first and second pairs of screw-receiving openings formed through the respective end portions of the plate, the coordinate spacing of each of said openings from the respective axis being equal to the corresponding coordinate spacing of the other openings to enable either pair of openings to be alined with said holes by turning said plate end-for-end and to enable said bracket assembly to be mounted on either of said side members by turning said plate edge-over-edge, said first openings being circular and of predetermined diameter, bosses of circular cross-section protruding from the outer side of said plate and coaxial with said first openings to fit into said holes and help anchor said bracket assembly when said first openings aline perfectly with said holes, and said second openings being larger in size than said first openings and capable of being moved into alinement with said holes by edgewise and endwise adjustment of said plate when said first openings aline imperfectly with said holes.
 5. A roller bracket assembly as defined in claim 4 in which each of said second openings is a vertically elongated slot having a minor dimension greater than the diameter of said first openings. 